


But if you kissed me now (I know you'd fool me again)

by Feroxai



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Mistletoe, Oblivious Felix, Roommates, THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:00:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21954778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feroxai/pseuds/Feroxai
Summary: “Hey Fe,” said Sylvain. “I need to ask a favour.”Felix sighed and fixed him a flat look. “What do you want this time?”“I know this is unconventional--”“Spit it out.”“I need you to be my fake boyfriend and come home with me for the holidays.”Or the 5 times Sylvain asked Felix for something and the 1 time Felix asked Sylvain.
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Sylvain Jose Gautier
Comments: 32
Kudos: 495





	But if you kissed me now (I know you'd fool me again)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [feyrith](https://archiveofourown.org/users/feyrith/gifts).



**ONE.**

Felix Fraldarius had a problem. 

Well, to be honest, he had a lot of problems. His pancakes were a little cold, and the diner seat was a bit sticky. He was sure he had just bombed his final, but whatever. But his biggest problem by far was currently sitting across from him. He should have _known_ it was too good to be true when Sylvain offered to shout him breakfast.

“Say that again,” he commanded. 

He watched his idiotic and dense childhood friend laugh nervously as he raised his hand to the back of his head in a familiar, distracting motion. _God,_ it was so, so unfair that he was even a modicum of suave. Felix should know better than to think Sylvain is attractive, but hey, he had eyes. 

It was fine, he told himself. It didn’t actually _mean_ anything.

Sylvain summoned up the courage to ask him again. “I, uh, I need you to be my fake boyfriend and come home with me for the holidays.”

“Why on earth would I do that? Aren’t your parents homophobic?”

“Yeah, my parents and my dad’s side of the family are pretty shitty--”

“You’re really selling this.”

“--but it’s a big family reunion this year. We’re going to my Grandma’s manor in the mountains. Dad’s side is invited, but there’s not many of them. And grandma, well, grandma’s nice and supportive. But every time she calls-- she always asks if I’m seeing someone.”

Felix had heard of Sylvain’s grandma before. She was absent from his childhood since she lived far away, but from what he remembered, she was very much a generous lady who doted on her daughter and grandchildren. As much as Sylvain’s parents didn’t agree with many of her non-conservative views, the woman was a very, very wealthy heiress they could not afford to offend.

She and Sylvain seemed to have reconnected recently. She enjoyed sending her grandson little care packs; Sylvain often shared them with him. Conveniently, she often sent artisanal spiced jams and ginger honey, which he greatly enjoyed. Sylvain always seemed happier after sharing his gifts with Felix. What a weirdo.

Of course, nice things did not always come to good people. Sylvain’s grandma was diagnosed with cancer a year ago. It was not progressing well, so it made sense for Sylvain to be so invested in relieving her worries.

“So you lied to your poor Grandma? That’s low, Sylvain.”

Sylvain seemed to shrivel in a bit as he played with his omelette. “I mean, I thought it would be a good way to come out. You know how my parents are. I wouldn’t be able to do it without her there. And well, Claude offered to help.”

 _Claude_. Yeah, Felix knew him. In their college days, Claude was often the instigator of numerous pranks and... creative innovations. Claude was fine-- cool, even. He was a useful friend to have around. He just wished that Claude didn’t feel the need to hang around Sylvain like a clingy koala. Felix didn’t know exactly why it bothered him so much but it was probably just the sheer immaturity and unsightliness of it. 

“Then why are you asking me?”

“Well, Claude’s boyfriend asked him to go home with him for Christmas, so now I don’t have a fake boyfriend. But I’ve already told Grandma…”

“What’s in it for me?” Felix asked gruffly. A whole fortnight of forced PDA and schmoozing with Sylvain’s annoying and gaudy relatives sounded like hell. However, the idea of being close to Sylvain and having his attention for a fortnight-- wait, no, _no_ , he was _not_ that needy for companionship. 

“Uh, helping a bro out? Good food? An all-expenses-paid trip to a mountain villa? C’mon bro, you’re my only hope,” said Sylvain with a whine.

Felix pretended to think about it. “Hmm, no.”

Sylvain clutched Felix’s hands in desperation, creating a bit of clutter on the table. “I’ll do the cooking and the laundry for a month.”

“Still no.”

“I’ll commission a song cover from Annette.”

“No.”

“I’ll ban Dimitri from our flat for a month.”

Felix snorted. “Please, you’d cave in two days.” 

Sylvain was a ball of mush who was especially weak to his friend’s puppy dog eyes. Felix may be too proud to take advantage of this, but the rest of their friends were not. 

“Alright, name your price,” said Sylvain.

“I can’t think of anything,” said Felix. “There’s not much you can give me.” 

“Alright, what about an IOU? Anything within reason. If you ask me, I’ll do it.”

Alright, that was tempting; it would be a good exchange if Felix managed to burn the kitchen down or accidentally totalled Sylvain’s car; Sylvain would have to let it go. A get-out-of-jail-free card.

“Fine. I’ll take the IOU. But you still have to do the laundry and cooking for a month, commission that song and ban Dimitri from crying on our couch whenever he’s fighting with his boyfriend.”

He expected at least token resistance from Sylvain, but he exuberantly shook Felix’s hand in an enthusiastic bastardisation of a handshake instead. Pure satisfaction radiated off of his face. 

“Felix! You won’t regret this!!”

Given Sylvain’s track record with bad ideas, Felix seriously doubted that he wouldn’t.

**TWO.**

Felix was right. The journey to the manor was enough to drive him crazy.

They had no choice but to drive down. Despite this being his family reunion, Sylvain tenaciously avoided driving on highways and the steep hills and slopes of the mountains. Though they took shifts, Felix was the one who had to do most of the driving.

That wasn’t the problem. The problem was Sylvain’s nervous chatter. After a lifetime of being childhood friends and a few years of being Sylvain’s unfortunate roommate, Felix was used to his chattiness. But it wasn't usually that unbearable. 

“Don’t forget that Aunt Amber is married to Maurice, the politician. And Maurice’s little brother Nicky, is married to a guy named Miles. They’re cool. Their adopted daughter Leonie is a bit annoying. My cousin Ferdinand, though--”

“I get it,” Felix growled after being subjected to two hours of Gautier-von Aegir-Pinelli Family Tree 101.

“You do?”

“Just write it down, I’ll read it later. But why do you even care? Whatever impression I make on your family doesn’t really matter. I thought you just wanted to stick it to your parents and come out."

“Hey! I don’t wanna disappoint my Granny.”

Felix sighed and refocused on the road. 

Sylvain and he sat in silence for a while, until Sylvain's boredom took over and he turned on the radio. At this time of year, it was normal for the radios to blast seasonal jingles. Some of the more traditional stations did carols.

Sylvain started humming along, which Felix half-listened to. Sylvain had some musical talent, though he claimed he only took up guitar in high school to get girls.

He sung a lot in the shower, which Felix didn't appreciate in the beginning, but he was so accustomed to it now that hearing Sylvain try to belt out inane pop songs in the shower every night was just a part of his routine. It was nice. Sylvain's voice was deep and melodic. Sometimes when Felix fell asleep in his lap, he'd wake with Sylvain stroking his hair and humming a song.

"Last Christmas, I gave you my heart--"

And so on and on and on.

"Shouldn't we talk about our relationship instead of your dumb family tree?"

"Our relationship, huh?" Sylvain said teasingly.

"Shut up. I meant stuff like, when did we get together? What was our first date? What plans do we have for the future? What are our likes and dislikes? They’re never going to believe us if we don’t get our story straight.”

Sylvain went quiet for a bit, as if lost in thought. “It doesn’t have to be complicated. We’re childhood friends; a few of them already know that. We can stick with the roommate set-up. You fell in love with me once you realised that you couldn’t live without my pancakes--”

“I am _not_ saying that,” growled Felix. Sylvain's cooking was insultingly good, but his pancakes were sickeningly sweet, especially on mornings where Felix had hangovers or had a one night stand over. 

“Alright, easy tiger,” said Sylvain, trying to placate him. "Okay, how about this-- we gradually fell for each other, and I asked you out because I got jealous of your dates?”

“That’s better. But what about the rest?” Felix asked.

“We get dinner often and watch enough movies to say that hanging out just gradually transitioned into dates. And honestly? We know each other well enough to pass as a couple."

That was… true. Sylvain knew how he took his coffee and tea, his food preferences, his favourite shows and hobbies and other interests. Despite his effort, Felix's memory had imprinted similar information about Sylvain. It was just easier to stop Sylvain from moping and sulking when he could offer to order his favourite take-out or offer to watch Blade Runner with him. 

“You’re not going to be clingy and touchy, right? That shit makes me want to hurl,” said Felix. Sylvain’s touchiness was fine, but the idea of PDA in general made Felix want to break out in hives. He watched Sylvain from the corner of his eye. A brief expression of dismay emerged on his face, but disappeared just as quickly as it appeared. 

“I’ll have to be a little clingy. Sorry,” he said. He sounded earnest and apologetic. “I’ve never brought anyone home to meet my family, so they don’t know how I usually act around my lovers. But they know how touchy I am-- they wouldn’t buy us being together if we don’t _try_ to act like a couple.”

Sylvain had so many dates and trysts that Felix would be surprised that he’d never brought someone home to meet his family if he didn’t know what a commitment-phobe Sylvain was. The fact that Felix was the first “partner” he was bringing home to meet his family must smart a little. Felix couldn’t imagine being anyone’s ideal partner. 

Felix _knew_ he had to be affectionate with Sylvain… but he hadn’t truly mentally prepared himself yet. 

“I know that,” snapped Felix. He sighed. “Holding hands and limited cuddling is fine. No kissing. And we better sleep on separate beds.”

“If there’s separate beds, then sure,” said Sylvain. Then he said, apologetically, “We might have to kiss once or twice to sell it. I won’t start anything frivolously, but my aunts stick their noses into everything and they like a good show.”

“Just like you then,” said Felix with a sneer. Sylvain was a notorious gossip. Apparently it was genetic.

They drove up through the forest, but winding roads became harder to traverse and the foliage had gotten so thick that Felix questioned that they were driving towards an estate and not just getting further and further away from civilisation altogether.

Finally, after a few hours of driving, they arrived.

The manor was more like a collection of interconnected mountain cabins. Even to Felix’s untrained eye, they were incredibly charming. There was nothing quite like lovely heritage buildings nestled into a snowy forest backdrop.

Sylvain directed him to drive into the undercover carpark, and they unloaded their bags. They didn’t manage to get very far before a pair of redheads, a man and a woman, cornered them.

The man radiated sunshine and cheer. His hair was quite long and wavy and he was wearing one of the ugliest christmas sweaters Felix had ever seen. “Dear cousin! Glad to see you’ve finally arrived. Your parents have been a little--”

“Snippy,” said the woman. She wore her hair short, with a stylish undercut. She was dressed very casually and had a very relaxed and carefree vibe. Felix liked her already.

“Ferdie. Leonie. It’s been forever! Thanks for dealing with my parents. Have you seen Granny anywhere?”

“Not so fast,” said the woman, who Felix assumed was ‘Leonie’. “Aren’t you going to introduce us to your famous boyfriend?”

Sylvain smiled. It was bright and flawless and fake. “Right, where are my manners? This is my boyfriend, Felix. We’ve been dating for a few months. Felix, these are my cousins, Ferdinand and Leonie.”

Ferdinand stepped forward and shook Felix’s hand. “I’ve heard so much about you,” he said exuberantly. “Childhood sweethearts! That’s so romantic. I’ve also known my boyfriend for--”

“Save it Ferdie,” said Leonie. “I’m sure you’ll have time to share your tragic backstory later.”

She turned towards Felix, eyes warm and full of mischief. “Sylvain never shuts up about you. I’m glad I finally get to meet the guy who pinned this loser down.”

Sylvain groaned. “Leonie, just tell me where Granny is. You’ll have plenty of time to badger Felix later.”

Leonie’s warm gaze shifted to annoyance. “Don’t be rude, _Sylvie,_ or I’ll pull out the old albums and show him your old halloween pictures.”

“I’ve already seen them,” said Felix. He had. In fact, he was the one who put Sylvain into those costumes. When they were little, they did matching costumes. Cows and cowboys, clowns and magicians. Whatever photos Sylvain’s Granny had were probably taken by Felix’s parents.

Sylvain looked at him, his expression as gentle as a fair summer’s day. He nudged Felix’s shoulder with his and grinned. Felix tried to fight down the heat in his cheeks and ears. 

“Ugh, you guys are disgustingly cute,” said Leonie. “Granny is in the kitchen. Your parents were in the spa the last time we checked, so--”

“Avoid the spa? Got it,” said Sylvain winningly. 

“We can take your bags to your room,” offered Ferdinand. “Granny’s already upset because you’re late.”

“I’ll let you win the next snowball fight,” said Sylvain. “Thanks!”

He grabbed Felix and ran through the entrance before the other two could retort.

“Right. So. You ready to say hello to my grandma?”

“I’ve met her before, Sylvain,” said Felix, but he couldn’t deny that some of Sylvain’s nervous energy was rubbing off onto him.

They made their way through the main entrance, through the corridors lined with old landscape oil paintings. 

When they finally arrived at the kitchen, it was buzzing. 

“The staff are mostly prepping for the big Christmas Eve dinner,” explained Sylvain. “We help put it together on the night, because Granny let the staff take the day off. Christmas Day lunch is usually just heated leftovers. Fancy leftovers though.”

“Darling!"

Sylvain’s head swizzled until he found the source of the call. 

“Granny. I missed you,” he said, sounding surprisingly genuine.

Sylvain’s grandmother smiled. She was dressed impeccably, like an untouchable, elegant socialite. Despite her posh style, her face was very kind. Sylvain got his looks from his mother, and his mother obviously got her beauty from hers.

“Come here,” she said. Sylvain obediently did as he was told. She examined him head to toe with a solemn expression. Then, she reached out and pinched him on the cheek.

“Granny--” whined Sylvain as he struggled to remove her hand. Felix knew he was humouring her. There was no way he wasn’t strong enough to throw her off. It was oddly endearing. Sylvain was rarely affectionate with his parents, so it was nice to see him being doted on.

“Look at you! You got bigger again. I see you’ve been feeding yourself well, unlike your brother.”

She patted his cheek contentedly. “You should visit your poor grandmother more often. Or else I’ll forget what you look like.”

“I’ll try, Granny,” promised Sylvain solemnly.

“You’ve always had a sweet mouth. Don’t think I won’t hold you to it, boy,” she said, amused. 

She turned to scrutinise Felix. “I know you.”

Sylvain quickly rushed to his defence. “Granny, this is Felix, my boyfriend. We grew up together.”

“Yes, Lydia’s child, bless her soul. You were so much chubbier when you were little. A bit of a crybaby too.”

Felix tried not to let his embarrassment get to him. “It’s nice meeting you again, Mrs von Aegir.”

She pulled him into a hug. Felix stiffly tried to return the action. His hands awkwardly rested on her back.

“Hush, child. You can call me Granny. With all that dear Sylvain has told me, I feel like I already know you,” she said. She was absolutely beaming at him. Maybe the smiling ran in the family too. “Thank you for loving my grandson.”

“I, er, you’re welcome,” answered Felix, flabbergasted.

She looked sharply at Sylvain. “What have you been feeding him? He looks so skinny.”

“Only the best, Granny. Felix is a bit of an athlete though, so he works it all off. Besides, he never even touches dessert.”

“Your desserts are terrible,” said Felix. Because they were. Sylvain was going to get diabetes one day with the way he ate.

“Babe! Stop bullying me.”

Sylvain’s Granny shook her head. “You’ll be eating feasts everyday while you’re here, Felix. It’s a pity you couldn’t come earlier.”

“Felix couldn’t take the time off work, Granny,” said Sylvain. It was, for once, the truth.

“You kids all work so much,” she said disapprovingly. “Go, go! Relax. I will talk to you later.”

Once they managed to leave the kitchen, they wandered back to the residential wing.

Sylvain explained that his Granny’s whole family had been invited to stay at the manor. All of her kids and grandkids, her nieces and nephews and their offspring and even some of the in-laws. There were so many people staying there that there was a directory for all of the guest rooms. 

“It looks like we’re in the east wing. Nice. I heard it was just renovated.”

Sylvain dragged Felix there, holding his hand. Felix had wanted to pull it back, but he knew it was something he needed to get used to. 

They opened up their room. Their bags had been delivered, courtesy of Ferdinand and Leonie. The bedroom was spacious and yet, cosy. It was decorated in spring green and cream. There was a portrait of a beautiful young woman who looked vaguely like Sylvain hanging over an unlit fireplace. There was an assortment of antique wooden furniture; the floor was decorated with a rich rug.

There was only one bed. It was a huge four-poster bed-- but there was only _one_ bed.

Sylvain seemed unfazed at this development. "Ugh, I'm absolutely exhausted, let's just go to bed--"

Felix glared at the offending piece of furniture. “There’s only one bed.”

“Sorry, they usually put me in my childhood room. I used to share a bunk bed with my brother whenever I visited. I didn’t think I was going to get a room upgrade.”

“You want to share,” said Felix flatly. It wasn’t a question. 

“Would you mind? We don’t really have much choice. I’d offer to sleep on the floor, but my family has a bad habit of barging in rooms. It would look bad if I took the floor.”

Felix closed his eyes and inhaled sharply in irritation yet again. “I see. Fine. But if you hog the blankets, or snore or wake me up, I’m kicking you off the bed.”

“Dibs on big spoon,” said Sylvain. 

God, Felix wanted to throttle him.

**THREE.**

_Beep Beep Beep._

Felix blinked blearily and waved his arms around his pillow, trying to find his phone. Once he found it, he jabbed angrily at the screen until it shut up.

It was so warm and cozy that he really didn’t want to move… wait. Warm?

There was a solid and comfortable presence at his back. He could feel a muscular arm slung around his waist and the barest sensation of warm breath on his neck. He tried to turn around. 

The lump behind him shifted, and let out a familiar whine. “Five more minutes, Fe.”

Felix nudged at the lump.

“Sylvain, get up,” he said curtly.

Sylvain let out a short huff and snuggled into Felix’s back, throwing an arm around his waist. “I’m comfy,” he said. “Don’t wanna move.”

Felix knew he should just push Sylvain up and jump off the bed, but he didn’t _want_ to. It was comfortable like this. He felt safe and grounded with Sylvain there. ‘Is this how all the people he embraces feel?’ he thought bitterly. 

A loud knock on the door surprised him. Beside him, Sylvain groaned into his shoulder before he rolled away.

“Come in!” Sylvain called.

“What, are you decent?” asked a woman on the other side of the door. It sounded like Leonie. 

“We did nothing but sleep,” growled Felix.

“Just checking,” she said cheerfully as she opened the door. “Not my fault you sleep naked, Sylvie.”

“It was one time! The AC was broken.”

Felix knew that was a lie. Sylvain _loved_ to traipse around their apartment shirtless and pantless. Sometimes it was one or the other, but sometimes it was both, and it drove him mad. How was he supposed to concentrate on his morning yoga when Sylvain was cooking shirtless like some culinary adonis? It was too shameless for him not to be perturbed by it. 

“Yeah, and I’m still traumatised,” said Leonie.

“What do you want? It’s too early to get up.”

“We’re making gingerbread houses. Granny told me to get you.”

“Shit. That was today? We usually do that on the 23rd.”

“Change of plans,” said Leonie. “Get up. Your parents and brother are already downstairs.”

Sylvain cursed and obeyed. Felix followed suit.

The dining room was full of Sylvain’s family members: a veritable sea of redheads. The room smelt lovely and spicy. Gingerbread was a sweet that Felix unironically liked. He thought it was a pity that it was typically only made during the holiday season.

Sylvain’s holiday family reunions only happened every two or so years; during the other years, Sylvain seldom went home to his parents, instead choosing to spend his time with Felix at their apartment or memorably, going home with Felix for the holidays-- as friends, of course. During those times, Sylvain often baked gingerbread for him as a treat. It was one of the few desserts he made that Felix loved.

Sylvain and Felix took up a free spot at the side of the table and started constructing their little house. Sylvain picked the various pieces to making the house and instructed Felix on the method to glue them all together. He could feel the pinpricks of dozens of eyes on him. He supposed that it was inevitable; he was a novelty.

“See, gingerbread house making is a bit of a competitive sport in my family,” said Sylvain. 

“What, because you’re all gingers?”

“Very funny. Nah, the ones that win ‘Best House’ get to open their presents first on Boxing day,” said Sylvain. 

Felix fixated on the word ‘present’. He hadn’t gotten gifts for any of Sylvain’s family members. Worried, he whispered this to Sylvain.

“I put both of our names down on all of our gifts. You don’t have to worry about it. Though, if you’d like to contribute financially I won’t say no.”

Felix snorted. “You’re such an asshole.”

“Well, yeah, but I’m your asshole.” He leaned in as he said it; the warmth of his body made Felix shiver.

One of Sylvain’s uncles watched them with fondness. Felix recognised him from Sylvain’s descriptions as ‘Uncle Nicky’. 

“You remind me of Miles and myself when we were younger,” Uncle Nicky said kindly with a twinkle in his eye. 

The man next to him, who was probably his husband, Miles, snorted. “If the clinginess bugs you Felix, you really should talk it out. The people in this family are bad at handling personal space,” said Miles. Nicky grinned at him and stuck a gumdrop to Miles’ face, which caused him to sputter indignantly.

Felix personally agreed. It was hard to get Sylvain to let go, and lately it seemed like he was getting clingier and clingier. He would urge Felix to cuddle with him on the couch whenever they watched horror movies. If Felix couldn’t sleep, he would insist that Felix should rest his head onto his lap. He would insist on joining Felix on his morning runs despite being the antithesis of a morning person. 

“It’s such a pity you’ve never bought Felix to meet us as your… partner,” said a tall lady with auburn hair. Felix recognised her immediately as Sylvain’s extremely conservative, Christian mother. She continued snidely, “Highly unconventional, if you’ve been dating for months. But then again, you’ve never been good at following rules, darling.”

“Felix is special. I wanted to keep him to myself for a while,” said Sylvain pleasantly. He looked at Felix with such softness and fondness that if Felix didn’t know it was an act, he would have never thought it wasn’t real. 

Sylvain’s mother smiled, but it was sharp and cutting, like the edge of a knife. “He’s quite different from your usual tastes, darling. I do wish you could have just trusted us and told us you were gay. Imagine the shock we had coming here. Your poor father practically had a heart attack.”

Sylvain wasn’t gay; he was bi, but Felix doubted that Sylvain’s parents would know the difference. 

They likely didn't care and they made their displeasure known through thinly-veiled snide remarks. His mother was a mean actress, but his father’s face was as turbulent as a stormcloud. He stood there silently as his wife built up the little gingerbread house; he barely contributed to its construction and constantly glared at him and Sylvain instead. 

Felix glared back.

Here, it was hard for them to say anything. Mrs Gautier’s family was mostly accepting, even if she and her husband disagreed with them. If they ostracised Sylvain now, there was no guarantee that Sylvain’s Grandmother would treat them well.

That wouldn’t stop them from spouting nonsense at Sylvain. Felix knew the two wouldn’t have kind words for their son if they managed to corner him. He was determined not to let that happen.

It was a small blessing that Sylvain no longer depended on his parents financially. Moving in with Felix meant he could afford to support himself on his entry-level wages. His parents had protested loudly at the time when Sylvain refused their offers of a penthouse apartment or a well-paying job in a friend’s company. They _knew_ he was escaping their clutches.

Sylvain put up a brave face and didn’t reply to his mother’s remarks, but his hands trembled, and the little jar of icing he was holding slipped through his fingers and onto his cashmere sweater.

The clatter of the jar hitting the ground jerked Felix out of his malevolent glaring. He quickly acquired tissues and dabbed at Sylvain’s sweater.

“I’m so clumsy, right Fe?” he said. His voice sounded pale and thin and significantly more tired than before.

“It’s fine if I’m here to clean up your messes," said Felix. He took Sylvain's hand and helped him dab at the mess. 

He played with the bottom of Sylvain’s sweater. “Come on, take it off.”

Sylvain seemed to brighten up a bit, but his eyes were still tired. “Buy me dinner first, Fe,” he said cheekily. But he did as he was told anyway, stripping in one smooth motion while Felix ardently watched. He folded his jumper into a neat little square. There was some wet residue on his shirt underneath; his nose scrunched up in displeasure. 

“If you’ll please excuse us,” Sylvain said.

Granny wasn’t at the table yet; her personal doctor was attending to her upstairs. The older adults at the table had no protests at them leaving.

“Go get cleaned up, kiddo,” said Nicky. 

Sylvain and Felix quickly took their leave. 

“Are you okay?” asked Felix.

“Yeah. I’m fine,” said Sylvain. Felix could tell it wasn’t wholy a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either. 

At Felix’s questioning look, Sylvain said, “I know they aren’t happy about this. But they care too much about their face to not pretend. Maybe I thought that there was a part of them that loved me enough that-- it doesn’t matter. I was just lying to myself.”

“Sylvain, it’s normal for you to want and hope that your parents would support you, even if they’re complete assholes,” said Felix. He knew this well from experience. “Even if you hate your parents, it’s hard not to want their approval.”

“I feel stupid for wanting something they’ll never give to me. It doesn’t matter what I do. I’ll never be good enough for them. They don’t want a son, they want a puppet to control,” said Sylvain vehemently. 

Before Felix could reply, they were interrupted by footsteps coming towards them in the hallway.

Miklan, Sylvain’s brother, stood there with a sullen expression on his face. It was amazing how the two were nothing alike. Miklan was full of old bitterness and grudges while Sylvain was kind. Sure, sometimes he was selfish, ignorant and annoying, but he always had good intentions. He rarely hurt others purposefully. He didn’t deserve the vitriol heaped on him by his family.

“What’s it like being the family failure now, little brother?” said Miklan, jeering. “You always knew you were one mistake from being a disappointment.”

“Don’t project your insecurities on me, Miklan,” said Sylvain.

“What? Still lying to yourself? You’re worth nothing to them unless you can follow their rules. You might have these idiots fooled, but I know you’re nothing but a whore,” said Miklan spitefully. He turned to Felix and sneered. “How much did he pay you to pretend to date him?” 

“He’s my boyfriend. He isn’t paying me shit,” said Felix. “If you want to continue being an asshole, I’m more than happy to take this outside.”

Felix wanted to punch that stupid, smug look off of his face, but Sylvain’s hand on his arm was like a anchor-- it held him down. Miklan didn’t look intimidated, but that didn’t matter when Felix knew he could beat his ass in a fight.

“Stop dipping into the eggnog, Mik,” said Sylvain brightly. The look on his face was fake, fake, fake. Felix didn’t want to see him pretend anymore.

“Fuck you,” said Miklan. With one final glare, he turned around and walked away.

As soon as he left, the tenseness in Sylvain’s body seemed to dissipate. 

He let Felix’s arm go.

“I’m going to kill him,” said Felix quietly.

“Look, I know he's a pile of shit, but please don’t kill my brother,” said Sylvain. He sounded tired again.

“You’re such a fucking pushover, Sylvain. The way he talked to you--he _deserves_ to get decked.”

“I’m used to it," said Sylvain in a calm, resigned tone. "Don’t get offended on my behalf.”

“But--”

“Look, it’s fine. The rest of my family, except for my parents, think the same way as you. I know I’m not alone. Please don’t be angry. For me?” Sylvain beseeched as he took Felix's hands in his and pleaded with his eyes.

Felix had never really understood why Sylvain let his parents and brother treat him so badly. He distinctly remembered asking once, and Sylvain had told him that it wasn't worth the trouble to challenge them, but he had sounded so resigned and broken that that response only made Felix angrier.

“Fine,” said Felix. “But if I catch him harassing you again, I’m going to punch his face in.”

Sylvain laughed. “That’s my wildcat,” he said. He reached other and tucked a strand of hair behind Felix’s ear. 

Felix couldn’t help the blush he felt on his cheeks. “Don’t call me that,” he said. 

“Sure thing, Fe.”

Felix tugged himself away and grabbed Sylvain’s stained sweater. “Come on, we need to get you cleaned up if we’re going to win that competition.”

**FOUR.**

One of Felix's favourite parts of the holiday season was the food. He wasn't a food hog like Ingrid, but that didn't mean he didn't enjoy a good feast. His brother Glenn was a great cook, and so was their grandfather, before he passed away. 

Felix would help with the food prep and plating when he went home for family dinner. He had a knack for knifework. 

However, Granny had employed several cooks to do the prep. The most Felix had to do was to fetch drinks for the older folk or sneak sweets to the children. 

The problem was that both the older folk and the children were insatiably curious about his relationship with Sylvain.

"How'd he convince you to go out with him?" asked one of the teenagers-- another girl with red hair. She continued enthusiastically, "Dad said that no one in their right mind would date Sylvain."

One of the older kids elbowed them. "You can't just _say_ that," he hissed.

Felix listened to them in amusement as he handed out the pre-dinner sweets. "He asked me out over breakfast one day and I said yes."

The first girl whined, "There's gotta be more. Come on, tell us."

"Nope."

"Sylvain was right," said one of the younger kids. "You're mean."

One of Sylvain's great aunts watched in bemusement as he was bombarded by questions from the kids. 

"I heard that they're childhood friends," she informed the children solemnly. She looked at Felix with a twinkle in her eye.

One of the redheads sighed. "That's sooo cute. Does that mean you've been together for a long time?"

"No. We only recently started dating."

"It still sounds like something out of a romance novel," said one of the older teenagers.

Sylvain's voice appeared over Felix's shoulder. He felt Sylvain's hands curl over his arms, and his chin dig into his shoulder. "My love for Felix far transcends whatever cheesy novels you've read, Gaby."

"Sylvain," said Felix with a grumble.

"Babe, I'm just _saying--"_

Felix sighed. "I'm going to help plate the dishes." 

He walked away, ignoring the eyes on him and the fact that Sylvain followed after him like a lost puppy.

The cooks thanked him for his offer to help but they turned him away. He tossed up his options; he could either escape through the back of the kitchen or toss himself into another interrogation with the children. He knew which he would prefer but he did promise Sylvain that they would try to make their relationship convincing. So he turned back around.

Sylvain stopped him as he was about to take a step forward back into the dining room, with a gentle hand on Felix's chest. 

Felix sent him a questioning look, but Sylvain simply indicated upwards, in the general direction of the doorframe.

Oh.

Mistletoe.

Felix froze. “Was that there before?”

“One of the kids must have put it up,” said Sylvain. Nevermind that the kids were too short to reach the top of the doorway without the assistance of a chair. One of Sylvain’s enthusiastic aunts had probably fixed it there.

Felix felt his face burn up at the idea of… kissing Sylvain. Maybe it was the alcohol, but the idea wasn’t objectionable and brought warmth to his face. It was only made worse by Sylvain leaning in and caressing his cheek with his hand.

“They’re watching,” Sylvain whispered. Felix trembled at the sound of his voice. It was embarrassing to be so affected. He’d made out with plenty of people before, but somehow this felt more intimate-- despite the fact that they were in the view of Sylvain’s twenty closest family members.

“Can I kiss you?” Sylvain asked, but he was already moving closer and closer, leaning down slightly. His hair tickled Felix’s skin. Felix could feel the Sylvain's warmth trickling down into his space.

He nodded almost imperceptibly. Sylvain smiled gently with none of his usual showmanship. He _glowed_. 

His lips met Felix’s with a gentle brush. It only lasted for a moment.

“Oh, come on Sylvie! Kiss ‘im like you mean it!” exclaimed one of Sylvain’s aunts, inebriated on champagne. 

The exclamation startled them both. Sylvain looked mired in awkwardness. Felix could tell he was gearing up to laugh it off.

Felix didn't want him to laugh it off.

He reached out for Sylvain’s collar and pulled him down again. He opened his mouth hungrily and was pleasantly surprised when Sylvain kissed him back with the same amount of fervour. Sylvain’s hands were lost in Felix’s hair. As the kiss deepened, Felix slowly curled one hand onto Sylvain’s shoulder and the other on the back of his neck. Felix felt warm and sated. It didn’t _feel_ like a pretend kiss. It felt infuriatingly real. He wished that Sylvain had kissed him because he wanted to, not because he had to put on a show.

They were startled again by a mean wolf-whistle. They pulled apart reluctantly. Felix’s eyes were fixed onto his feet. How could he look his friend in the eye after that?

“Go get a room if you want to make out like teenagers,” chastised Leonie, but she seemed more amused than scandalised.

Sylvain put on his mask again and smiled. He ducked in to kiss Felix on the cheek. “I need to go talk to my uncle. Wait for me at the dinner table?”

Felix nodded tersely and stepped back from Sylvain. He ignored the stares of the people in the living room and hid on the balcony. 

Why did he enjoy that so much? Sylvain was just a friend, wasn’t he?

Then why did he feel like he wanted to hold on to him and never let him go? Why did he want to hide Sylvain away from the world’s prying eyes and sharp words? Why did he want Sylvain to look at him and see someone worth his time?

He… couldn’t have feelings for Sylvain, could he? 

It couldn’t be true. 

It _couldn’t._

Fuck.

**FIVE.**

In his defence, Felix managed to spend most of the night not panicking. He even managed to sleep alright, but that probably had more to do with him being enveloped in Sylvain’s comfortable embrace than his state of mind stabilising.

In the morning, he caved in and did what he usually did whenever he hit an emotional roadblock: he called Ingrid.

“So, what’s up? How’s Christmas with the Gautiers?”

“It’s been fine. Sylvain is avoiding his parents and his brother is still a prick, but the rest of his family are surprisingly nice.”

He recounted the events of the past few days, breezing over the bed-sharing and omitting the mistletoe kiss. Ingrid listened to the events with quiet but persistent interest.

“I think I remember his grandmother. She’s the one that would always bring us swiss chocolates whenever she visited, right?” Ingrid asked.

“Yeah, she’s been supportive. It’s nice seeing that Sylvain’s family isn’t full of assholes.”

“That’s good to hear,” she said. She made a noise of consideration. “Alright, what’s the real reason you called?”

“What, I can’t call you just to talk?”

“You don’t usually call unless something’s wrong. Don’t be surprised if I get worried, Felix.” The remark would have made Felix feel worse if he didn’t acknowledge that he regularly updated Ingrid on his life over brunch.

“I’ve made a mistake,” he admitted.

“So when I told you that fake-dating Sylvain was a bad idea--”

“You were right,” Felix said begrudgingly. 

“So what happened? Does someone suspect that you're lying? Is the PDA making you uncomfortable?”

“No,” said Felix reluctantly. “I think I have feelings for Sylvain.”

There was a slight pause on the other end. 

“Oh, Felix,” said Ingrid eventually. There were traces of pity in her voice. “I knew this was a bad idea.”

“I can’t help it! It doesn’t matter anyway. If he never finds out, we can still be friends,” said Felix.

“I’m not sure about that," she said. Then after a moment of consideration, she asked, "Have you considered the possibility that he likes you back?”

“He wouldn’t. He’s Sylvain. He’s never shown any interest in me, but I’ve seen him flirt with literally everyone else on two legs.”

“I think you need to take a closer look,” said Ingrid. “If you love him, you should say something. He doesn’t treat you like other people, Felix. It’s harder for you to see, but from the outside looking in, it’s clear you hold a special place in his heart.”

“Yeah, as his best friend.”

Felix heard her sigh on the other end of the phone. It was a familiar sound.

“Look, you’re the one who gets to decide if you want to tell him. But I’m asking you to approach this with an open mind. You said you cuddled in bed? Felix, that’s not a bro thing.”

“Fine, I’ll--”

There was a knock on the door which startled him.

“I’ll call you back later,” said Felix, ignoring Ingrid’s squawk of protest. 

Sylvain’s head peeked into the doorway. “You’re still here? I thought you said you wanted to go hiking on the trail today.”

Felix shrugged. “Change of plans.”

“Well, that works out for me. I’ve got something I want to show you,” said Sylvain. “Dress warmly and bring your skates. I’ll wait in the foyer.”

Felix quickly dressed and dragged out his figure skates which Sylvain had badgered him into bringing when they were packing. It was a strange request considering that they were in the middle of nowhere; there were no rinks nearby for miles and miles. 

When he met Sylvain in the foyer, Felix observed with amusement that Sylvain was dressed almost comically in a puffy down jacket. Felix begrudgingly thought he looked vaguely reminiscent of a cute, fluffy penguin. He was carrying skates and a basket of what Felix thought were probably snacks. 

Sylvain led him out to the side of the manor, where they started walking on the unbeaten track. 

“We’re not taking the car?” 

“Nah, it’s about a thirty minute walk through the forest. It's beautiful at this time of year.”

“It’s stupidly sloshy, too,” grumbled Felix.

“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of a little snow," taunted Sylvain with a stupid, perfect smirk on his face.

“Just because I’m unwilling to get my feet wet doesn’t mean I’m afraid of snow,” sneered Felix.

He marched off in front of Sylvain, ignoring the likelihood that he had just played straight into his hands. 

They walked for a long while, Sylvain eventually took Felix’s hand and lead him forward. It was an action that Felix was accustomed to now. It felt natural to just intertwine his fingers with Sylvain’s. He told himself that he was just doing it in case someone-- such as Miklan-- was following them. 

The forest thinned until it broke into a clearing with a large, pristine lake. The surface was frozen over. 

Felix looked at it with skepticism. "Is that why you brought me here?"

“This is where my brother and my cousins would take me to skate when we were little,” answered Sylvain. He was looking at Felix softly; he seemed to be watching for Felix's reaction expectantly.

Felix poked at the ice with his shoe. It seemed solid enough, but it was hard to tell. “Is it safe?”

“At this time of the year, yes. I went out and tested it earlier today. I did tell you to bring your skates for a reason.”

Sylvain slipped into his skates; he laced them haphazardly and quickly got on the ice. Felix had long given up on lecturing him about ankle support. 

“Rough ice is terrible for your blades,” said Felix, but once he laced up his boots, he followed Sylvain on anyway.

Sylvain was a little wobbly-- he hadn't seriously skated in years, and his skates were probably too worn out. Still, muscle memory kicked in and after about twenty minutes, Sylvain was gliding around and shredding the ice with hockey stops. Felix would glance over intentionally a few times while gliding around in lazy loops.

Eventually, Sylvain quietly glided over and offered him his hand. “Dance with me?” he asked. 

Felix huffed. “Fine”.

He took Sylvain’s hands, with a hand on Sylvain’s hip and the other on his shoulder. He hummed a little tune as he skated backwards and turned slightly; Sylvain followed him with considerably less grace. Felix expected the dance to be awkward, but, despite their clumsy collective movements, it was quite intimate and nice. Felix wanted to rest his head on Sylvain's shoulder but managed to restrain himself. There was no one to put on a show on for.

“It’s pretty here right?” said Sylvain.

It was. Despite his many years of ice skating, Felix rarely went to outdoor rinks. There weren't many in Fhirdiad and they were hugely popular. They were especially crowded during nights and weekends. Felix didn't have much desire to skate on rough, partially-melted ice in a veritable crowd of strangers. 

Sylvain and he often walked around the town square where the Christmas festivities were set up; there was often a temporary rink full of people. Sylvain had teased him once or twice about him wanting to skate on any available ice patch he could find. Felix had snapped at him for it and said that he had no desire to skate on a surface with that many people.

And now they were here on a practically perfect frozen lake. There was not a single soul in sight except for Sylvain and him.

If it were anyone else who brought him here, he would call it romantic. But, for the sake of his own feelings, he couldn't do that. Sylvain really did do vaguely romantic things for him often-- he was ready to admit that now. But Felix had taken it as a part of his character. Maybe Sylvain's serial flirting meant that he didn't know how to turn it off and it had become his main medium for communicating. Maybe Felix was just projecting what he wanted to see from Sylvain. Maybe he was just like everyone else in Sylvain's life: trying to make him into someone he wasn’t.

His concern must have shown on his face. 

"What's wrong?" asked Sylvain. 

"Nothing," said Felix tersely. 

"Hey. Felix, you can talk to me," said Sylvain in a comforting and calm voice. He dragged his movements until their dance slowed. "C'mon, I can tell when you're upset."

Felix stopped dancing and tried to move away from Sylvain. "I said it's nothing. I'm fine."

Sylvain reached out to Felix's arm, but Felix shrugged him off. Sylvain sighed, exasperated. "Was it something that I did? Just tell me."

Felix had so many questions buzzing around his head that it was hard to pick only one. "Why did you ask me to come here with you? You could've gotten a real boyfriend to bring back to your family. You're always with someone. Why didn't you take advantage of that?"

Sylvain was silent for a moment. He seemed to avoid looking into Felix's eyes.

"I didn't want anyone getting the wrong idea and I didn't want to get serious with someone I barely knew," Sylvain explained. Then quietly, he admitted, "I didn't want to commit to anything when I knew my heart wasn't in it."

Ingrid’s voice echoed in his head; ‘If you love him, you should say something’. But how could he say anything when it was clear that there was no way Sylvain would want to pursue anything more than a series of one night stands? Felix didn't want to be another notch in his belt. He wanted to _mean_ something to him. If Felix had to remain just a friend to do that then he would learn to live with that.

 **"** So I was just the most convenient person you could bring along?" 

Sylvain looked frustrated. His handsome features were scrunched up. "No, Felix-- it's not like that. Where is this even coming from?" 

Felix faltered in his anger. Where _was_ this coming from? Just because he had acknowledged his feelings for Sylvain, it didn't mean Sylvain owed him anything. But that didn't mean he could control his annoyance and anger. 

"I don't know," said Felix. "I guess all of this is just getting to me."

"Do you want me to come clean? I don't want to make you do this if it's making you uncomfortable. You could still stay for Christmas. If anything, my family will treat you better since I dragged you all the way here to do a favour for me."

Felix shook his head. "Wouldn't your Granny be disappointed? And your brother would be insufferable if he knew the truth."

Sylvain took Felix's hands into his gently. "I want to make my Granny happy, but not at your expense. And I couldn't give a flying fuck about what my brother thinks."

Felix barely suppressed a smile. "Really?"

"Yeah," said Sylvain. "Really. I asked you to come because you were the only person who knew me well enough to be a convincing boyfriend. If this is getting to you… just think about it and tell me what you want to do."

Felix's mouth twitched into a smile. It was sweet of him to offer, but Felix wouldn't throw him to the sharks like that. "Sure."

Felix then moved away, conscious of the palpable tension between them. "Now race me to the other side of this lake." 

He started gliding away, leaving Sylvain in the dust and ignoring his indignant cries about unsportsmanship.

**\+ ONE**

Sylvain tactfully decided to give Felix some space once they got back to the manor, which Felix was highly thankful for. 

Since Sylvain's family had done their annual gingerbread house competition the day before, they both didn't have any obligations for the rest of the day. Some of the kids and younger adults were building snowmen outside, but Felix felt that he had enough of snow already for the day and decided to read in their room.

Dinner that night was subdued. Miklan had fortunately come down with a cold, and his mother had to attend to him. His father, outnumbered by his wife's relatives, sat at the table like a gnome, grumpy and unfazed. 

Sylvain toned down his obnoxious boyfriend act a bit. He moved Felix's favourites onto his plate instead of offering to feed him. Felix didn't really eat much and simply pushed at the food on his plate with his fork.

He had spent the afternoon ignoring his burgeoning problems, but that didn't mean they had gone anywhere. The holidays were ending soon and he was confident he could keep at the act until they left, even if it wasn't going to be very convincing. 

What really worried him was what was going to happen when they got back. He had to _live_ with Sylvain. Their lease wasn't up for another six months and besides, he was reluctant to move out. 

He liked living with Sylvain. He just didn't like the newfound torture his feelings for him were causing. He never liked it when Sylvain brought people home or when he went out on dates… he just never realised why. Now that he knew, it made his displeasure worse. He knew Sylvain hated when people were jealous and petty. What if Felix's possessiveness and jealousy made Sylvain hate him?

He was startled out of his thoughts when Sylvain touched his hand gently. He looked at him, surprised. Sylvain had a worried look on his classically handsome features. It was always hard for Felix to refuse him anything when he had that look on his face.

"Are you okay?" asked Sylvain."You've barely eaten anything."

"I'm fine," said Felix. "My stomach is feeling a little weird. I'll just go sleep it off."

"Are you sure? Do you need any meds?" Sylvain looked like he was getting more and more concerned by the second.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'm going to bed. Don't wake me up." He said his goodbyes to the others at the dining table and slide back his chair with a creak. He scuttled back into his room before anyone could say anything.

Once he was in their room, he closed all the curtains, buried himself in the pile of pillows and blankets on the bed and fell asleep right after. He was tired.

He woke up early in the morning feeling pretty icky and groggy. The long night of sleep didn't help much at all. 

There was no one beside him when he awoke, but Sylvain's side of the bed was still warm. It was a little perplexing. Besides joining Felix on his morning runs occasionally, Sylvain rarely woke up early.

Felix had always been bad at sleeping in, even when he felt tired. He would inevitably wake himself up no later than 9 am.

He was about to get out of bed when he heard the door open. Sylvain walked in carrying a tray of breakfast fare.

"Morning!" said Slyvain cheerily. "I thought you might be hungry since you didn't eat much yesterday night. I got some fruit, and I went down early to make you some congee in case your stomach was still feeling off."

Sylvain gently placed the tray onto Felix's lap.

Felix examined at the tray of food that Sylvain presented to him. There was a small bowl of apple, mandarin and grapefruit slices-- his favourite fruits. There was also a slightly bigger bowl of plain congee. 

It wasn't the first time Sylvain had made it. After Felix's mother died, he would often make it for himself when he was homesick. There weren't many asian restaurants in their neighbourhood and it was never really the same if it wasn't homemade. He always found the congee from restaurants to be too watery. When he was sick, Felix didn't have the energy to make congee himself, so Sylvain would do it for him. The action had always made Felix warm inside. He knew Sylvain never cooked for anyone else except for him.

This congee was thick, the way he liked it, and it was seasoned with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. There was a boiled egg on the side.

"Thanks," Felix said, deciding to not to comment on the egg. He poked at it with his finger and it rolled on the tray.

Sylvain sat on the bed and picked up the egg. He cracked it on the side of the bowl of congee and started peeling it. "I know you like your eggs sunny side up, but you really shouldn't be eating fried foods on an upset stomach."

"It's not that bad," said Felix as he started nibbling on an apple slice.

"You say that now but you'd take that back if your stomach pain got worse," said Sylvain. He offered Felix the egg which Felix simply plopped into the congee.

Felix tried the congee and even bit into the egg; it was a nice medium boiled egg with a soft consistency. "This is good. You should make this for me more often," he teased.

"Maybe I will. But you have to ask nicely," said Sylvain.

Felix snorted and continued eating while Sylvain watched quietly.

"Alright, I'm done," he said when he had eaten most of the fruit of and more than half of the congee.

Sylvain chucked him a wet napkin to clean his hands and took the tray away, whistling as he went. A few minutes later, he came back. He stood for a few moments over the bed, as if hesitating about something.

"There's something I want to give to you," he said eventually. "I was going to give it to you for Christmas, but I didn't think you would be comfortable opening in front of my family."

"Alright, let's see it," said Felix as he shrugged. How bad could it be? 

Sylvain crouched under the bed and pulled out a tiny box. He handed it to Felix gingerly. "Merry Christmas, Felix."

Felix took the box and examined it; it was wrapped in a red paper and had a gaudy green bow, which he quickly undid. He tore the paper off. He could feel Sylvain' eyes watching him keenly.

He flipped the box open. 

Inside was his mother's old antique watch. It looked exactly how he remembered it. It was ticking steadily as if it had never been broken into dozens of pieces. The last time he saw this, it was stored inside a velvet satchel in his sock drawer buried under a mound of hiking socks.

He looked at Sylvain, whose face was filled with trepidation. Felix was sure his own face was slack with shock.

"How? Is this really--"

"It is," said Sylvain. "I got the recommendation for a repairman from an antique dealer who used to sell stuff to my parents. I just snuck into your room and took it."

Felix _knew_ he should be mad about that, but he could barely bring himself to care. He remembered sulking for days and weeks when he broke it.

He picked up the watch and checked the engravings on the face; there were little silver flowers and swords carvings on it which mirrored the pattern on the back. Felix had _loved_ this watch as a child and used to 'borrow' it from his mother's jewelry box whenever he could sneak into his parent's rooms. It was exactly how he remembered it. It was amazing. It was impossible.

He looked back at up at Sylvain. "This must have cost a fortune."

Sylvain smiled and shuffled closer to him on the bed. "I wanted to do something nice for you."

"I don't deserve this," said Felix. Embarrassingly, he could feel his eyes tear up and his throat start to close up.

"Of course you do," said Sylvain. He picked up a tissue and helped Felix dab at his tears. "I always want to do nice things for you, Felix. You're always amazing to me. Who else can I always count on for support and to keep me in line?"

Felix leaned forward and settled his weight onto Sylvain's shoulder. He was sure he was getting Sylvain's shirt wet. "Goddess, you're an asshole. Stop saying this shit."

"Yeah but I'm _your_ asshole. Some days all I want is to make you happy."

Okay.

That's it.

He's had _enough_.

Felix sat back suddenly, which caught Sylvain off guard. He stared straight into Sylvain's eyes.

"Remember that IOU?"

"You want to cash in now? What do you want to do? Deck me?"

Felix smirked. "I want you to kiss me."

Sylvain went pale and then red. It clashed with his hair. "But there's no one here."

"That's not why I asked you to kiss me."

Sylvain looked a bit confused, but seemed amiable to the request. He leaned forward and pecked Felix on the lips. Felix pulled him in by the shoulder gently which caused Sylvain to fall onto him slowly and inevitably deepened the kiss.

Once Sylvain seemed to realise that he was practically on top of Felix, he quickly separated himself from him.

"Sorry," he said, somewhat bashfully. Felix watched him closely, admiring the faint blush high on his cheeks and his kiss-swollen lips.

"Why are you apologising? I'm the one who told you to kiss me."

Sylvain hesitated before he moved his hands to Felix's hips to stabilise himself. Despite his stance above him, Sylvain looked far more like trapped prey than Felix did. 

"I've wanted to do that for a long time," confessed Sylvain. His low voice resonated deep through Felix's bones.

"Is that why you asked me to pretend to be your boyfriend?"

"No. I told you the truth. Claude did offer. I wasn't going to ask you because I didn't want to make you uncomfortable. I was just going to tell my Granny I broke up with my boyfriend instead."

Felix looked at Sylvain’s face but saw none of the usual signs of a lie. "But you did ask me."

“Yeah, I know. Claude convinced me to. He said I could have a taste of a relationship with you even if nothing came out of it."

"That's dumb," said Felix softly. "If you wanted that, all you had to do was tell me."

“I didn’t think you’d be interested,” Sylvain said with a shrug. Despite his apparent nonchalance, Felix could feel Sylvain’s hands tremble from their place on his hips.

“But you thought I’d be interested in being your fake boyfriend, huh?” Felix said with a smirk. It was rare to see Sylvain caught nervous and off-guard

“I know you’re a bleeding heart under that tough jerk exterior. I didn’t think anyone would want to put up with me in the long term if they knew what I was really like. And you know me the best out of everyone.” 

Felix frowned and punched him in the arm. “Don’t say that.”

“It’s the truth!” 

Felix sighed and shifted his weight. He attached his hands to Sylvain’s shoulders and pushed him down, relishing in the gasp he let out when he hit the bed. “In that case I want a refund on that IOU. I want something else.”

“No refunds,” said Sylvain. “I already gave you a kiss!”

Felix grinned as he played with the hem of Sylvain’s shirt, enjoying the way that Sylvain’s adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “No refunds, huh? Not even if I want to ask you to go out with me?”

“Wait! Wait… are you serious?” Sylvain’s eyes widened. He captured Felix’s hands in his. His hands were clammy.

“Yeah. Just say yes, Sylvain.”

“I-- yeah. I want to go out with you, Fe.”

Felix smiled softly. “Was that so hard? Next time, just use your words you fool.”

He froze when he felt Sylvain’s hands creep up towards and cradle his face. His face suddenly felt really warm.

“If you were so sure I’d say yes, why didn’t _you_ ask me earlier, Fe?” said Sylvain slyly.

Felix felt his face grow even warmer. “Let’s not talk about that right now.”

“Oh? What should we talk about now then?” asked Sylvain.

Felix smiled and leaned in towards Sylvain. “Don’t be dense.” 

“Sorry, sorry,” Sylvain laughed. He looked at Felix fondly. “I love you, Fe.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said before he pulled in Sylvain for another kiss.

FIN.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Sylvix Secret Santa 2019!! I wrote the second half on my phone and posted this on hotel wifi. Thanks to Cha, Astra and Evie for betaing!!
> 
> Follow me on twitter at [Feroxai_](https://twitter.com/Feroxai_)


End file.
